PlayBuild | Youth Intensive

A FREE seven-week theater intensive for students at the Goodman

The Goodman's PlayBuild – Youth Intensive is an entirely FREE, seven-week program, introducing 14 to 18-year-old students in the Chicago metropolitan area to theater arts. Held at the Goodman, this program gives students the opportunity to learn skills from local theater professionals that are instantly applicable not only to the world of theater, but also their world at large.

PlayBuild acquaints students to the techniques used for devised theater, building and refining their skills in:

Performance

Acting

Space Work and Physical Theater

Fight Choreography

Improv

Creative Writing

Storytelling

Poetry

Comedy

Communication

Interviewing

Team Building

Critical Analysis

Public Speaking

Designed to validate the voices of its participants and get them to examine their own potential for creativity, PlayBuild introduces students to all elements of the creation of theater, culminating in a performance on the Goodman’s stage.

Building on the Chicago legacies of artists like Viola Spolin and techniques like Viewpoints, participants weave together their own stories and stories collected from their communities through interviews and research, culminating in a public performance of an original work. This ensemble-building program invites students to explore how each of us contributes to the human drama. In addition, students will be able to collectively develop and design sound and costumes for the production.

Program Dates

Students will participate in either the Morning (9am-12:30pm) or Afternoon (1:30pm-5pm) Session for the first 6 weeks of the program. The final weeks of the program will combine both sessions, all day, Monday - Friday. PlayBuild will run from late June to early August. For exact dates, check back in January!

Students must be have reliable transportation and be available all seven weeks of the programs to participate.

How to Apply

Applications for Summer 2019 are on their way! Please check back in January for more information about how to apply!

Curious?

Watch the full length performance of the 2017 final performance: I, Too, Sing America.

You can also watch the full length General Theater Studies (now PlayBuild) 2014 final performance, Heartscape, 2012 final performance, Fear and Progress, view photos from Domino Effect, the General Theater Studies 2009 final performance, or view photos from (R)Evolution, the 2010 final performance!